To Clean a Tower
by The Inspired Quill
Summary: "We're cleaning the Tower today." In the resulting silence, one could have heard a feather drop. The Titans can face any monster or villain or monstrous villain, but can the five superheroes defeat a far greater enemy—the mess that is their Tower?
1. Chapter 1

**To Clean a Tower**

**Summary:** "We're cleaning the Tower today." In the resulting silence, one could have heard a cricket chirp. The Titans can face any monster or villain or monstrous villain, but can the five superheroes defeat a far greater enemy—the mess that is their Tower?

**A/N: **A new fandom, a new fanfiction—at least the summer gives me a lot of time to write. This may not be the most original idea, but hopefully it will meet your standards. Enjoy~

**Disclaimer**: I do not own. I don't think I'd want to, either. It seems like a lot of hard work, managing everything…

* * *

><p>Chapter One<p>

"We're cleaning the Tower today," Robin firmly announced, standing in the doorway of the common room. The early light from the large glass window cast a glow around him, as if he was positioned in a spotlight. It seemed fitting, considering his statement.

Beast Boy and Cyborg dropped their Gamestation controllers audibly, turning around slowly in unison to face their masked leader. The open-mouthed Titans paid no attention to the screen of the large TV, where the zombies gleefully pounced on their unmoving characters, reducing them to strewn-about pieces in mere moments. The words YOU'RE DEAD flashed brightly across the screen, but both the players' attentions had been attracted elsewhere.

Starfire curiously poked her head out of the kitchen to glance at the two boys and then Robin. Her hands were covered with an unidentified purple-and-yellow substance that slowly dripped onto the kitchen floor, creating a small puddle, as the alien princess calmly regarded the scene.

Even Raven, sitting on the couch and half-hidden behind a huge dark tome, briefly looked up.

Faced with five pairs of startled eyes—four, actually, plus the mildly intrigued eyes of Raven—the Boy Wonder coughed slightly, and then repeated his words. "We're cleaning the Tower today." Then he strode over to the couch and grabbed a handful of chips that the two other boys had left perching precariously on the couch. Starfire quickly joined the others, wiping the slimy material off her hands with a towel. The cloth jerked abruptly in her hands, but she didn't notice.

Still faced with silence, Robin began to feel uncomfortable. He decided to repeat his message once again. "We're cleaning the—"

Beast Boy quickly interrupted. "Dude, we heard you the first time. What do you mean, we're cleaning? This place is totally clean!" He waved his arms around for emphasis. "There's not one speck of dust in the entire tower."

"Have you seen your room?" Raven deadpanned.

"Heh, heh," he nervously chuckled, hiding behind a bright smile. "Except for that. But, seriously, Robin, why would you want to clean the Tower?"

In answer, the masked leader lightly swept by a dark corner of the room and threw something at Beast Boy.

He quickly jumped away. "A cobweb! And—" he peered closer at the gunk, eyes wide "—some gum, a hairball, a spider, and—a dead battery? Gross—but nothing I can't handle."

Robin dusted off his hands and vaulted back onto the couch and took another handful of chips with the hand that hadn't handled the hairball. "That's why," he answered to the question after he had swallowed, "and even if you can 'handle' that junk, I can't."

Beast Boy still wasn't defeated. "But why today? I was busy beating Cy and setting a new, unbeatable high score! I was killing all the monsters and he just hid behind me the entire time—"

"You were totally losing!" Cyborg shot at him, whipping around to face the shorter green boy. "I was way ahead! And, just for the record, I defeated twice as many zombies!"

"No, you didn't! Couldn't you see my score going up while yours went down? It plummeted like a—like—" He tried to think of an appropriate simile.

"Like a feather?" Raven offered. She put her book down, leaned against the back of the couch, and crossed her arms. As an afterthought, she used her powers to turn off the Gamestation, which had still been displaying YOU'RE DEAD.

He snapped his fingers. "Yeah! Like a feather—no, wait—feathers aren't fast enough," he said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. He didn't seem to notice that Raven had been talking sarcastically. "It plummeted like—an arrow, that's what I was looking for!"

"It did not go down!" The couch shook uncomfortably.

"Yes, it did!"

"No, it—"

"Friends, please," Starfire interjected, "can we not cease the arguing and listen to Robin's plan of cleaning?"

Beast Boy and Cyborg continued without missing a beat, now pointing fingers at each other.

"Yes, it did! I saw!"

"No, it didn't! You were going for the all-time lowest score!"

"Me? You were—" A glowing black strand of energy quickly cut off his words. Beast Boy flailed around, pointing desperately at his gag and Raven.

"Ha," laughed Cyborg. "Served the green bean right." A second later, he was also flailing around and trying to escape from the black energy.

Calmly, she turned to Robin. "You were saying something about cleaning?"

He cleared his throat loudly. "Yes. First, though, could you release Beast Boy and Cy?" The two were still trying to argue. "We sort of need them."

Effortlessly, the bands of dark energy dissipated, and as the two Titans gulped air desperately, she hissed, "Don't continue your meaningless tirades, for all of our sakes." Her hand twitched towards her temple.

"What are tirades?" Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg.

"She means," Robin said almost tiredly before the half-robot could open his mouth, "be quiet."

The common room was—mostly—silent once more.

"As I was saying," Robin declared, "we're cleaning the Tower—"

"You've said that four times already!" Beast Boy cried. "Get to the point!"

The Boy Wonder glared at him. "We're all cleaning, and we'll start with our rooms first. Then we'll do the common room and the kitchen, and then the other often-used rooms, and then the lesser-used rooms, and then the rarely-used rooms, and then the never-used rooms, and then—"

"Wait," Beast Boy said slowly, "you mean we're actually cleaning the entire Tower? Like, the whole huge thing?"

Robin sighed. "Yes." He thought it'd been obvious. What else could "We're cleaning the tower today" mean?

"But that'll take forever! That'll take years and years and years and—" Beast Boy bounced up and down. The bowl of chips wobbled with each bounce and almost tipped over.

"If you work productively and efficiently and don't waste time—" the leader meaningfully glared at certain members of the team "—we'll finish in a couple days, at most."

"Why us, though?" Beast Boy whined. "Why don't you invite all Titans?" A thought bubble rose from his mind. In one corner, Aqualad was on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor of the kitchen with a sponge. In another, Kid Flash was venturing into a dark closet, and then screaming in surprise as something dark and unidentifiable leaped out and grabbed him. As the thought bubble popped, the green Titan chuckled to himself.

Robin crossed his arms, looking pointedly at him. "Why should we?"

"Because BB here wants to get off work," Cyborg supplied with a grin. He patted his shorter friend condescendingly.

"No," the changeling defended himself. "They've used the Tower, too."

"We _live_ in it," Raven reminded him. While Robin and Beast Boy had been arguing, she had picked up her book again and continued to read.

"But—" Beast Boy whined.

Silent, the others had almost forgotten Starfire was still there at the couch. Now, she spoke up. "Robin, when will we begin the cleaning of the Tower?"

He looked at the alien princess, almost confused. "I said 'today', didn't I?"

"Oh, yes, Robin," she corrected, "but I meant, will we be doing the cleaning before or after the midday meal? I have prepared a delicious Tameranean delicacy with Larfjak and homemade mustard-Gorka-berry-juice sauce for lunch. Perhaps we can eat first, and then commence with the cleaning?"

There was another silence. Paling, Robin choked out, "It's great that you made the dish for us, Starfire." Beast Boy's eyes visibly widened, but the leader of the Titans hadn't finished yet. "But since breakfast wasn't long ago, maybe we could have your dish for dinner and clean first? That way we'll get more done and finish sooner."

"That is a wonderful idea, Robin!" Starfire chirped cheerily. "I look forward to the consumption of my meal in the evening."

A muffled gagging sound could be heard from somewhere in the room, although no one was sure who it came from. Robin briefly wondered if he had said the wrong words, but quickly dismissed the thought.

Taking charge once more, Robin stood up. "For the next four hours, we'll all be cleaning our rooms. Some may need more time than others—" Beast Boy glared at him sullenly "—but I'm sure we'll all be able to finish in this time. After lunch, I'll assign your next duties."

"What about training?" Beast Boy asked warily. Surely Robin would not ask them to train and clean at the same time.

The Boy Wonder only grinned slightly. "For some of us, Beast Boy, cleaning takes the same amount of energy as training." With a smirk, Robin vaulted over the couch and trotted off for the doors. "I'll go get the supplies, and we'll start cleaning!"

Raven turned another page in her novel. "Oh, the joy," she deadpanned.

* * *

><p>Hopefully, for a first attempt, it wasn't too bad. Tell me if it was, and I'll try to improve.<p>

Thanks for reading this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**To Clean a Tower**

**A/N: **Another chapter! This one's kind of a filler, but I couldn't ignore a sudden burst of inspiration, so here it is.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own.

* * *

><p>To clean a tower, one needs only three things: a messy tower, some cleaning supplies, and cooperating Titans. Robin was currently in a messy tower, and having just past Beast Boy's room, he could practically see the stench wafting out under the door. It really wasn't pretty. He held his breath as he walked past.<p>

_Tower_, he thought. _Check._

He hoisted the large plastic bucket higher, gripping the sides with both hands so the contents wouldn't fall out. Nobody would want to clean with supplies infested with Beast-Boy-stink. Except maybe Beast Boy himself, but Robin wasn't taking chances.

Considering how large the tower was, he'd taken five trips to gather all the necessary equipment. The other four loads were already delivered, and once he got to the Common Room, they could start cleaning. He hoped.

_Supplies_, he thought. _Check._

He walked in through the doors of the Common Room, looking for the other four Titans. They should be on the couch with all the supplies, ready to clean.

Of course, that would be too much to ask. Robin was not at all surprised to see the couch empty, although the four other large buckets lay scattered around.

_Titans_, he though. _Of course not._

"Guys?" he called out. "We've got to start cleaning now."

There was no answer, but the couch shifted slightly. It was quickly noticed by the detail-oriented leader of the Titans, and he set down his bucket and ran over.

"Who is it?" he demanded. "Beast Boy? Cyborg?" He shook a finger. "Come out, now!"

Starfire lifted up the side of the couch effortlessly and smiled at him. "Hello, friend Robin." She giggled at his dumbfounded look.

"Star?" he asked. "What were you doing under the couch?"

Her bright smile grew larger. "Friend Beast Boy invited me to partake in the game of 'Hide and Go Seek' and I chose to hide here. Would you like to play as well?"

The Boy Wonder clenched a fist, ignoring Starfire's question. "I knew it'd be him! He's in trouble once I find him!"

The alien princess simply blinked in response.

"Where's Beast Boy?" he asked her.

Starfire shifted and looked down, her hands playing with a lock of red hair. "He also informed me that the participants of this game are not supposed to reveal the hiding locations of the other players to the 'it'." Her large green eyes met his apologetically. "I am sorry, but I cannot tell you his current location."

Robin suppressed a groan. Of course Beast Boy wouldn't make it that simple for him. "Is he," Robin tried weakly, "in the Common Room, at least?"

His desperation must've been visible, because Starfire smiled and replied, "Yes, friend Robin. Though, I am unsure which animal form he has taken."

Robin suppressed another groan. "Do you want to help me search, Star?"

"I am sorry," he replied sadly. "I must continue baking my Larfjak dish. It must be done immediately, or there is a risk of the Gorka juice and mustard hardening into—"

"Um, okay," he gulped, cutting her off. "If you see him, send him to me."

"Sure." she smiled again. Robin liked her smile.

"I'll see you later, then," he managed, and trotted away.

Robin scanned the walls for green bugs. There was nothing. He turned his gaze to the ceiling. Once again, there was nothing. Head craned up, he almost stepped on Raven's cape.

"Hey, Boy Blunder, watch it," came her flat voice.

He quickly jerked his head down. If he was anyone else, he'd be surprised. But he was Robin, and 'Robin' and 'surprised' didn't go together.

"Sorry, Raven," he apologized, as she dragged the edge of her cape closer to where she was leaning against the couch, cross-legged. As Robin looked around, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Beast Boy," she muttered darkly, glaring at the closet door that was creaking suspiciously.

"Made you play Hide and Seek?" Robin guessed, looking at the closet, too.

"Don't you dare ask how," she threatened, but Robin was already making his way towards the closet.

"Beast Boy!" he yelled. "Open up!" He pounded on the closet door after discovering that something kept it from opening. It was as close to a lock that Beast Boy could get, he supposed.

There was a loud shifting sound, and then Robin jumped back just in time to avoid being pounded by the large door that was quickly rushing towards the ground. It landed on the ground with a large _boom_, and a jumble of old, dusty equipment rolled out after it. Lying on top of the pile was…

"Cyborg?" Robin asked. He looked back at Raven, who had been watching them. "I thought you said Beast Boy was in here!"

She stared at him coolly. "I did not say anything. I merely looked at the closet door."

"But why would you say 'Beast Boy' while looking at the closet door if Beast Boy wasn't in it?" he cried, frustrated.

Before the empath could respond, Cyborg rolled off the pile and moaned. "I'm gonna get BB for that later… He makin' me stay in that stuffy ol' closet and then lockin' the door…"

Robin looked him up and down. There seemed to be nothing wrong, really. "Why? Why'd he tell all of you to hide?"

Raven answered this time. "He said that if we weren't 'available', we could get out of cleaning."

The Boy Wonder fumed silently. "He's getting double-duties for this! I mean it!"

"Hey!" came an indignant voice. "That's totally not fair if I already have to clean my room!"

"Beast Boy? Where are you?" He turned around, fully expecting a short green Titan.

Cyborg, once he really looked at Robin, was trying not to snicker but it was a futile effort. Raven had a hint of a smile, although it disappeared immediately. Even Starfire came out of the kitchen, and laughed when she saw the trio.

"He's right behind you, man!" Cyborg howled.

Robin turned around again. There was nothing.

"As a matter of fact," Raven deadpanned, face expressionless once more, "he is. You're just not looking closely enough."

Starfire clapped her hands once. "Beast Boy, you truly are a master at this game of 'Hide and Go Seek'!"

Robin, frustrated still, closed his eyes and tried to sense Beast Boy. He couldn't have hidden that well, right? And that voice had come from behind him, so—the thought suddenly struck him. Beast Boy must be in some kind of insect form, hiding on his cape. With that thought, he tugged off his cape with a flourish and looked. There was nothing. Still.

However, Cyborg was now rolling on the ground laughing, but managed to whip out a camera and take a picture. Robin's eyes blinked from the flash.

He became aware of something in his hair, and it was making it itchy. Quick as a flash, his hand shot up and—grabbed mouse-Beast-Boy.

Robin dropped him immediately. He'd meant to scratch his head. But this was good too.

"Ow," groaned Beast Boy, sitting up in human form. Then he looked at Robin and grinned. "Seriously, dude, you never suspected? Ever since you walked into the room I've been latched onto your cape." His grin widened. "I've outdone Robin!"

A hundred accusations flew through his mind, ranging from the typical "Beast Boy!" to "You're doing twice as much cleaning today and tomorrow and when the Tower is done, twice as much training!" However, all he said was, "Enough with the games. You're all to finish cleaning your room, and have it pass my personal inspection, by 4:00pm. Or else." He glanced at Beast Boy menancingly.

He turned to walk away, but Beast Boy's plaintive cry turned him around. "But what about lunch?"

Cyborg turned to him gleefully. "Not to worry, BB! Chef Cy's got a huge plate of ribs hot, cooked, and ready! Y'all are welcome to share!"

Beast Boy glared. "I'll pass."

"I, too, have a dish prepared!" Starfire announced. "It is suitable for you, Beast Boy, if you wish to sample some of my cuisine!"

He looked from Cyborg to Starfire and back. "You know what, I'm not really hungry. I'll just have more at dinner." He walked towards the couch, eyeing the Gamestation.

"Beast Boy." Robin's voice brought him to a halt. "The cleaning supplies are behind the couch, not in front. If you would like to skip lunch, you can get a head start on cleaning. I think you'll need it." He was using his 'I'm the leader of the Titans so you better listen" voice.

"Do I have to?" he asked, pulling his puppy dog face.

"Yes, you have to," Robin replied.

"Do I really have to?" he asked again.

"Yes, you really have to," Robin replied, annoyed.

"Do I really, really have to?" he asked once more.

"Yes, you really, really have to," Robin replied, irritated.

"Do I really, really, really—"

"Just go and do it," Robin growled.

Beast Boy grabbed the bucket closest to him and walked towards the door. When he passed Robin, he almost tripped. His arms flailed wildly, and the bucket went flying. Its contents were emptied all over the floor, and the bucket itself landed upside down on Robin's head, covering his face.

"Oops," Beast Boy grinned cheerfully, having quickly righted himself.

And then he ran out the door, laughing, before Robin could say a word.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading. Reviews are greatly appreciated.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**To Clean a Tower**

**A/N: **This chapter's a bit longer; hope you enjoy it! Cyborg's a big part of this chapter. He's a fun character to write with.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own.

* * *

><p>"Ya owe me big time," Cyborg informed him, leaning into his communicator, eyes wide. "If Robin found out what I was doin', I don't wanna know what he'd make me do…"<p>

Sitting on his unmade bed, Beast Boy waved off his friend's concerns, looking smug. "Nah, he'll never find out. I gotcha totally covered." He grinned widely and flashed the half-man, half-robot a thumbs-up. "And what do ya want for this? Name your price. A new video game? A high-tech toy? A deluxe tofu meal, prepared by BB himself?"

Cyborg looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing his chin. Then he dropped the act, and simply uttered flatly, "No." There was a pause. "I want… ya to do my next grocery trip. And I'm not giving ya a ride or anything."

"Okay." Beast Boy shrugged. It sounded fair enough. And, knowing Cyborg, it could've been a lot worse. Looking at the communicator again, he said in a low tone, "You sure this'll work? I'll get out of cleaning?"

This time it was Cyborg who grinned widely. "Totally. Hide it somewhere safe and Rob'll never suspect. And don't forget, follow the instructions to the letter. That's all, really."

Beast Boy took his feet off a stack of old, moldy comic books and looked around the room. A few rays of sunshine peeked in through the finger-print stained window, illuminating the mess found in Beast Boy's room. Old heaps of clothes dotted the floor, once used but now discarded. Some covered an opened box that may or may not held food—Beast Boy never checked. Besides, the old clothes held the smell of whatever was under. The closet door was open, allowing what clothes that still remained to spill out, further contributing to the mess. Something fluffy was poking out from under his bed—maybe it was his pillow, which he'd lost the last time he rolled out of bed. "I hope you're right, Cy."

He picked up the list his friend had given to him, and glanced at it once.

Closing his communicator, he hopped off his bed and promptly banged his foot against a hardened box. "Ow!" he cried aloud. Then, limping slightly, he started to set Cyborg's plan into action.

* * *

><p>In another room of the Tower, Robin finished sorting his final basket of clothes. Most of them were uniforms, of course, but occasionally he'd come across something else. "Socks," he muttered under his breath, "in the red drawer; masks, in the blue; uniforms, hung up… And I'll need to replenish my hair gel stash. It's getting low. I'll ask whoever goes to the grocery next, to pick up a bottle or two on their way home."<p>

He'd already organized everything twice, and nothing was out of place. He quickly carried the basket over to his closet and put everything in its place. Then he stood up and critically surveyed the room, wondering if there was any more to do.

His room was already furnished sparsely and kept tidy, so he didn't have much work to do. The bed was made—a few days ago, since he didn't sleep much here anyway—and the desk was empty. The floor was spotless.

Everything was perfect, as it should be.

A clock hanging nearby told Robin that it wasn't the 4:00pm deadline he'd given to his teammates, but since he was already finished, he would go and check up on them. Perhaps if they were as quick as he was, they could have the rest of the afternoon off. Even Robin, today, didn't feel like handing out more work. It could wait until after dinner.

He strolled out of his room and turned down the hall, feeling self-satisfied. First stop, Starfire's room.

Robin made his way down the hallway, until he came to the door of the alien princess. He knocked twice.

In less time than it took for him to blink, the doors were flung open widely. It was almost a miracle that they didn't go flying off into the hallway.

Robin stepped to the side and poked his head in, trying to survey the room. However, his view was blocked by a very excited Starfire.

"Come in, friend Robin!" she called, her voice cheerful. When, after half a second, he had not moved, she took him by the hand and pulled him in. He didn't resist. "I have done the cleaning of my sleeping quarters, hopefully to your satisfaction."

He watched, half-dazed, as she whirled around the room, opening her closet doors with a flourish to reveal sets of purple uniforms, hanging neatly. Then she flew quickly to the other side of the room, pulling the blinds up and flinging open the window. The sweet melodic notes of birdsong floated into the room (Robin later found out that Starfire had had Cyborg design the "little wondrous box of singing birds" for her, and she had attached it outside her window).

Finally, the Boy Wonder came out of his trance and nodded approvingly. "Very nice, Star." The covers of her purple bed were made with the utmost care, the pillows had been fluffed up to her liking, and Silkie was snoring in a corner on top of a violet throw pillow. If Robin had decided to grade the room, he'd give it an A+. Purely based on the room, and the room only, of course.

She smiled blindingly, her eyes lighting up. "Thank you!"

"I'm going to check on the others now," he explained. "You can have the afternoon off, since your room's finished." Quieter, he asked, "Do you want to come with me to check up on the others?"

Her smile diminished. "I am sorry, friend Robin. I would very much enjoy accompanying you, but my Tameranean dish still needs more time. I must attend to it."

Robin tried to imagine what kind of dish would take so much time and work. Then he decided not to think about it—he didn't want to mess up Starfire's room by fainting or anything.

Shifting his attention back to Starfire, he smiled weakly, trying to hide his disappointment. "That's okay." He tried to think of something else to say. "Well, good luck with it." _No! That wasn't what I was trying to say_, he thought to himself. "Have fun with it." _No, not that either! _"Hope it turns out well." _Still not good enough! "_I mean, Starfire, I think that—"

The puzzled expression on her face dropped as she pointed behind him. "I believe friend Raven requests your attention."

The Boy Wonder broke off suddenly and jerked around, finding Raven, hood up, standing motionless outside of Starfire's still open door. "Thought I'd find you here," she said flatly. "I'm done cleaning, if you're finished with Starfire."

"Uh, yeah!" he yelped. Then he composed himself slightly, and continued. "Yes, I'm done here; I'll come check on your room." He turned back to Starfire. "See ya later, Star."

He hurried out the room, following Raven's retreating back.

They walked in silence until they reached the room of the half-demon. The door slid open without a sound, and a quick flick of a black tendril of magic flipped on the lights. "Good enough?" Raven said emotionlessly.

Still standing outside the door, Robin peered in. Everything was hung neatly and even with the light on, it still looked spooky. Raven's magic mirror was propped up on her drawer, and Robin's eyes glanced over it almost without seeing. The bed was made and there weren't piles of dust everywhere. The leader of the Teen Titans took this to mean that the room was clean. He wasn't keen on walking in and investigating further, especially considering the myriad of outcomes, none of them particularly good. The masks looked intimidating, the statues looked as if they could spring to life, and he didn't want to know what that painting in the corner was supposed to represent.

"Yeah," he swallowed. "Good enough. If you're done, you have the rest of the afternoon off."

"I'm done." Without any further words, she slipped inside her room and the door shut silently behind her.

Robin was left staring at a closed door. He remained there, motionless, for a few moments.

"You might as well go check on Cyborg," Raven's voice said, floating through the door.

"Okay. I will." And Robin hurried off, speeding towards the next hallway.

"Cyborg?" he called, knocking on the door.

"Yeah, I'm here," came the reply. "Wait a sec." There was the sound of shuffling papers and equipment, something often heard in the half-robot's room.

The door slid open, and Robin quickly entered. A quick look around told him all he needed to know. Cyborg didn't have a bed, but the charging station was clean and dusted, as well as the other equipment. The floor was clean. There was nothing he could criticize, except for…

"Hey, Cyborg?" Robin asked. "What's that?" He pointed towards a cloth-covered rectangular black box. A few blinking lights could be seen through the thin material.

"Oh. That." Cyborg stretched the back of his neck awkwardly. "It's sorta this new machine I'm working on… It doesn't really work now, but gimme a few more days and it'll be done." It wasn't a complete lie. Beast Boy would need a few more days to clean his room, if he ever got around to doing it. Hopefully Robin wouldn't want to look at it, because if the machine got tampered in his room, the corresponding machine in Beast Boy's room wouldn't work. And Cyborg needed it to work, so he wouldn't have to make that next grocery trip. _Robin, don't say you want to look at it_, he chanted in his mind. _Don't say you want to look at it. Don't say you want to—_

"Cool. Mind if I look at it?" Robin asked curiously.

_I told you not to say you want to look at it! _"Um, it's not really ready." He needed a quick excuse, fast. "It doesn't react well to oxygen so I have to keep it covered up. Plus, well, if you press the wrong button, something bad could happen. Yeah. It could explode or something."

Alarm flashed in Robin's eyes behind his mask. "It could explode?"

"No! It's not that bad! It could, let's say, not work. It's top secret!" Cyborg tried to act natural. "He said I couldn't let anyone look at it." Beast Boy hadn't said that, technically, but he wouldn't want Robin to discover what was going on.

"He?" Puzzlement now flashed in Robin's eyes. "I thought you were building it for yourself."

"I am! But it's a favour for someone else. Like a gift, ya know? And then later I hafta wrap it up again, so it'll be less trouble if I just leave it like this now. Sorry."

"Okay," Robin shrugged, wondering why Cyborg was so agitated. He turned to leave, but at the door, he faced his friend again.

"Are you okay, Cyborg?" he said, studying the half-man, half-robot's face. "You seemed kinda worked up there."

"Me? Worked up? No, 'course not. Everything's all fine and good." He grinned, hoping Robin would take the hint and leave.

"I'll go check on Beast Boy now. He's the last one on my list. Wish me luck." He grinned as he strolled out of the room and down the hallway.

Cyborg gulped. _Good luck_, he thought, but even he wasn't sure who the thought was directed to. Both Robin and Beast Boy would need luck.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading. Reviews greatly appreciated.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**To Clean a Tower**

**A/N: **I forgot to mention last time that I went on vacation, so that's why I haven't updated for a few weeks. This is the latest chapter, written while I was on the plane, and it features Robin and Beast Boy. Hopefully it's not too bad after not writing for so long.

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, never will be.

* * *

><p>Robin was a very alert person. After all, he was the former apprentice of Batman and the leader of the Teen Titans. His martial arts and detective skills wouldn't help if any villain could sneak up on him, so Robin was always on maximum alert, vigilant, and watchful. Except, wandering alone down the Tower's long hallways towards Beast Boy's room, the Boy Wonder failed to notice a tiny but crucial detail.<p>

There was a spider silently trailing him, wreathed in the shadows of the walls. And it was green.

If Robin had seen this green spider, he would've known it was Beast Boy. If Robin knew Beast Boy was following him, he would be suspicious. If Robin was suspicious of Beast Boy, then the carefully thought-out plan might fail. If Beast Boy's plan failed, Robin would probably make him run laps around the Tower for _months_.

So, spider-Beast-Boy reflected, he was rather lucky Robin wasn't looking at the walls, but instead marching resolutely towards the room at the end of the hallway. One more turn, and he would be at the door. It was crucial that Beast Boy was the one who arrived first.

His eight spider legs skittered across the wall, still hidden in the shadows. If Beast Boy wasn't currently an arachnid, he would've crossed his fingers as he carefully made his way past Robin, who still sensed nothing. For a little spider, the hallway loomed large and imposing. But there was light at the end of the tunnel—light peeking through the crack at the bottom of the door, where Beast Boy would zoom in and set the plan in motion.

A sense of relief washed over him as the spider entered his room and returned to normal human form. Beast Boy leaped over the stacks of magazines and comics, the piles of pizza boxes, and the heaps of dirty clothes to a little gray box. Delicately—at least, for Beast Boy—he reached inside the box and withdrew a small remote, with one round, red, button in the middle. Almost hesitant, he pressed it.

His appearance of his room transformed drastically.

* * *

><p>Alright, this was it. Robin would find out in the next five minutes whether the Tower was going to be cleaned in a few days or a few months. He hoped for the former, of course, but they couldn't move on until Beast Boy finished cleaning his room. When it was done—<p>

No, Robin corrected himself, _if_ it was ever done, they could move onto the next part, which, to the leader of the Teen Titans, would be easier than cleaning the rooms.

He sighed. Would the Tower ever be cleaned?

Robin came to a stop in front of a door labeled 'Beast Boy'. He knocked.

There was the sound of fumbling, a crash, an "Ahh!", some stomping—and then the door slid open. Robin tried to look inside, but Beast Boy, small and scrawny as he was, still managed to block most of the view. "Hey, Robin!" Beast Boy greeted him brightly. "Are ya ready to be absolutely stunned by the cleanest room you've seen in your life?"

Robin frowned slightly. Somehow, he doubted Beast Boy's claim. "Are you finished cleaning your room?"

This time it was Beast Boy's turn to frown slightly. It only lasted a second, as moments later that bright grin popped up again on the changeling's face. "Duh, of course!" He leapt back gracefully, and gestured to his room with one sweeping movement. "Ta-da! My new and improved, _clean,_ room!"

Not sure what to expect, Robin stepped in. Perhaps, he thought, the heaps and stacks of garbage would be piled against the wall, or maybe pushed under the bed, or maybe stuffed in the closet; then Beast Boy would just run a broom over the floor of the room and make sure there were no evil dust bunnies attempting to take over; or maybe Beast Boy—

His thoughts were interrupted as his eyes took in the scene before him. Then his jaw dropped audibly. It was a wonder it didn't fall to the ground altogether.

Robin whipped around to look at the door again; sure enough, the sign 'Beast Boy' was still hanging there. He was not standing in some other person's room, he had not been transported to another world, and after pinching his arm, he knew he was not in a dream.

But—"Wow," Robin said, looking around him. That was all he managed to say.

Beast Boy regarded him with a grin, his fang showing. "Ya like it?" Triumph shone in his green eyes.

"This is—this is amazing, Beast Boy!" Robin remarked. "How did you do it?"

The green elf ducked his head modestly. "I had some help, but mostly I set up—I mean, mostly I cleaned it by myself." Beast Boy was relieved that Robin was too awestruck to notice his slip. If the Boy Wonder had questioned him about it, then he was in trouble.

Once again, Robin looked around the room, but this time he took note of most of the details.

The floor was spotless, looking clean enough to eat off of. Light pouring in from the gleaming windows danced on the floor. Curtains framed the window, hanging neatly. Not one dust bunny was in sight, never mind piles and loads of what Beast Boy usually had lying around in his room. The bed was made, as if it was brand-new, the covers and pillow in their places without even a crease. The closet door was opened a crack, allowing Robin to see the uniforms hung up neatly, and even folded-up civilian clothes resting on their shelves. A wooden drawer was pressed against one side of the room, a framed picture of the team on the top. A desk as well as a chair completed the room, under the window with a small pencil case off to the side. The only hint that a terrible mess had ever inhibited this room was a faint smell wafting in the air, but that was excusable considering the rest of the room.

Robin didn't want to admit it, but it was almost better than his room, and he didn't say that often. "Where'd the desk come from?" he asked, pointing to it.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Cy said he'd found it someone. He fixed it up and gave it to me. I think it looks good there." He chuckled to himself. "That is, if I ever use it."

Robin walked over to it, inspecting the desk. If this was really Cyborg's handiwork, he had done a good job with it. Clean, without scratches or scapes, or even faint stains on it. He put his hand on it, wondering if it would feel as good as it looked. After all, Robin was looking for a new desk, too.

It felt flat enough, but also… sticky. Puzzled, Robin patted it.

The "desk" rustled.

Robin lifted his head to look at Beast Boy. The elf was wearing a blank face, devoid of expression. Raven would've been impressed.

"Um… Beast Boy?" Robin asked nervously. "Why is your desk rustling?"

Something flashed in his green eyes, but it was quickly contained. "Oh, the desk… Maybe it's not quite fixed. I'll ask Cy to take another look at it later. So I'm done now? Do I get the rest of the afternoon off? I've stuff to finish today." He changed into a kitten, mewed cutely, and then back as a human, asked, "Please, Robin?"

Seeing his room, and the effort he had put into it made Robin relent, even if the desk was somewhat weird. "Alright, since I'm impressed with your room. You get the afternoon off." He nodded to Beast Boy, and then with a final look around the room, left. The door closed behind him, and his footsteps faded.

"Phew," Beast Boy said out loud. "That was close." He reached behind the desk, and pulled out a remote. The red button glowed, and flashed when he pressed it.

As soon as he did, the appearance of the room began to flicker, as if there was static running through it. Then the hologram faded, and Beast Boy was greeted with the natural sight of his room, filled with its usual heaps and piles, with everything from old pizza boxes to faded, smelly clothes, lying about. Although, he had 'cleaned' a little bit. Cyborg had advised him to at least push everything to the side and spray some air freshener into the room, lest Robin accidentally brush against something that didn't appear in the hologram. That would definitely make the Boy Wonder suspicious. Some more freshener would have masked the scent completely, but Beast Boy wouldn't like it due to his animal senses.

With a grin, Beast Boy leaped up to his room and surveyed his domain, remote still in hand. Everything was going perfectly, and best of all, he didn't have to clean his room.

So obviously, that's when disaster struck.

The door slid open again and Robin came in, holding a small toolbox. "Beast Boy, I brought some tools. I think I can fix your desk—" Then he saw the room. His eyes bugged out, he let out a gasp, and his head whipped around to glare at Beast Boy. "What—"

Upon seeing his leader again, Beast Boy had been repeatedly jabbing at the red button, but somehow, it was stuck. "C'mon, c'mon," he whispered urgently. "Ya gotta work, I'm begging ya!"

After the tenth time, he knew it wouldn't work. And like the last time Robin had entered his room, he was still speechless and frozen. He was staring at the spot where a desk and chair used to be; now the two items had suspiciously disappeared, and in their place was a heap of old clothes topped with some old overturned pizza boxes. Something yellowish-white was languidly sliding down the side of the box.

Beast Boy saw his chance. As a panicked green swallow, he flew from the top of the door, over Robin's head, and out the door. Landing on the ground, he turned into a cheetah and fled blindly down the hall.

Suddenly, the room began to flicker, and a moment later, the appearance of a perfectly cleaned room returned. Robin blinked.

Then he blinked again.

And a single thought entered his mind.

* * *

><p>Every occupant of the Tower—even Silkie—heard Robin's yell.<p>

"BEAST BOY!"

Cyborg froze in horror, and then leapt into action. He grabbed the black box, not caring when the cloth cover slipped off. Then he pressed the OFF switch, threw the machine into his closest, and piled a hundred more little gadgets and trinkets over it. Finally, he slammed closed the closet door, and sat against the door, panting slightly.

_I think I'm in trouble, too,_ he thought.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading and possibly reviewing, and see you next chapter.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**To Clean a Tower**

**A/N**: I'm not too fond of this chapter. I feel it's not my best, but I'll leave that to you readers to decide. At least this is the longest chapter yet.

**Disclaimer**: Nope. Not mine.

* * *

><p>Raven was almost impressed with Robin. The half-demon daughter of Trigon the Terrible was the undisputed best at Getting Mad At Beast Boy, but Robin seemed to be a very close second. If not for the fact he only had two eyes (and they weren't even red), Raven might've considered them equal.<p>

According to the screams, shouts, and pleas of mercy that had interrupted her calm meditation, Robin had cornered and then forcibly dragged the younger Titan back to his room, where he was currently glaring at him. Further crashes and yelps of pain told her Beast Boy was sullenly taking out the cleaning materials while trying not to trip on anything. He wasn't being very successful.

At least, Raven thought as she pushed open the door to the roof, she would have some peace and quiet here. After the distractions had gotten to be too much to bear, she had been forced to meditate somewhere else, and her chosen destination was the roof. It was a better place to meditate than the common room, and the weather wasn't bad, either. It was warm enough to be comfortable outside, yet not too hot. A gentle, cool breeze blew across the sea to the Tower, playing with Raven's violet hair, and the sun shone brightly.

The violet-haired empath stared at the ocean for a moment. Jump City was visible on the horizon, the large windows of the tallest towers glittering in the sun. It was peaceful and safe, for now.

Another metallic glint caught her eye, and she saw Cyborg, just a speck on the Tower's beach far below Raven. He appeared to be burying something in the sand behind the Tower, and occasionally lifted his head up and glanced around as if making sure nobody saw him. The half-robot never thought to look up.

Finally, Cyborg patted the mound of sand as if saying 'good-bye', wiped—was that a tear?—from his human eye, and walked into the Tower.

As he left, Raven made her way to the middle of the roof. Closing her eyes and levitating in mid-air, she began her familiar chant. "Azarath, metrion, zinthos…"

She focused her emotions, and a sense of calm and control returned to her. Raven breathed deeply and slowly. This was perfect: no troubles with meditation, a sunny yet cool day, and best of all, nothing to bother her—

CRASH! "Ow!"

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Raven calmly opened one eye and looked around. There were no further sounds emanating from Beast Boy's room, so she hoped that it was only one little incident. She waited patiently for a moment, still levitating. There was nothing.

Closing her eyes, she began again, freeing her mind. Raven slipped deeply into meditation, chanting all the while. "Azarath, metrion, zinthos… Azarath, metrion, zin—"

CRASH! BOOM! "Ahh!"

The Titan sighed. Would she ever be allowed to meditate in peace? Gritting her teeth, Raven calmed down her mind and closed her eyes. _Relax_, she thought to herself. _Breath deeply._ "Azarath, metrion, zinthos… Azarath, metrion—"

BOOM-BANG-CRACK-"Ow!"-BANG-"Beast Boy!"-BOOM-CRACK-CRASH!

After a few moments: "Oops."

Raven opened her eyes and slowly lowered herself to the ground. It appeared that she wouldn't be getting any meditation done for now. Perhaps she'd grab a book from her room and read until Beast Boy was done—if he would ever finish. In the common room, Raven would have no problem blocking the sounds of Beast Boy cleaning, as it couldn't be louder than the boys while they were playing a video game.

She slipped inside the Tower and noiselessly made her down the stairs and into the hallway leading to her room. Unfortunately, this path took her right past Beast Boy's room, and even though his door was closed, she could still hear the two clearly. As she made her way closer and closer, the voices seemed louder and louder. The empath tried to block them out, but it was to no avail.

"Beast Boy, don't point the broom at me like that!" Something shuffled, and a yelp quickly followed.

"But then I can't reach this—ahh!—corner!" There was a soft crash.

"Here, use this!" Another crash.

"Ow!"

More shuffling.

"You missed a spot, here." Raven imagined Robin pointing to the offending spot, an irritated expression on his face.

"I can't get that out," complained Beast Boy. "It's from five years ago, when me an' Cy—"

"Cy and I," came the correction.

"Seriously, Rob, I hafta clean with ya watching, _and_ listen to your grammar lesson?" A spike of intense emotion reached Raven's frazzled mind. She tried to ignore it.

"Beast Boy, just wipe this off." His voice was resigned.

"I told ya, I can't." Another spike of emotion.

There was the sound of something being picked up and then thrown across the room in frustration.

Plaintively: "Dude, what was that for?"

"Beast Boy. Clean."

Raven breathed a sigh of relief as her door slid shut, blocking the voices. Finally, it was quiet. Raven took her time getting her book, relishing the quiet in the room. With a tendril of black energy, she flicked on the lights, made her way to her bookshelf, and took the second-thickest novel. Brushing off the cover, she tucked it under her arm and prepared to leave. However, now she was reluctant to go out again. It was quiet in the room. She could just read here.

CRASH! "Beast Boy!"

Or not.

Raven made her way down the Tower's hallway towards the common room. As the doors opened, she looked for any more signs of distractions. Starfire was in the kitchen, humming some Tameranean tune while cooking, and Cyborg was nowhere to be seen.

The noises from Beast Boy's room were very faint now, barely detectable. It wouldn't bother Raven. She opened the book to her page, and was soon lost in the riveting world of her latest novel.

* * *

><p>Starfire drizzled the last of her mustard-Gorka-berry-juice sauce onto the steaming Larfjak bread. It was done. This dish had taken hours to create, but turned out perfectly. Starfire was sure her friends would love eating it.<p>

She took a spoon covered in green goop, and taste-tested her creation. It was bitter yet sweet, with the tangy hint of Gorka berries. It was perfect.

Looking at the kitchen clock, the alien princess saw it was 6:00pm already. She knew Raven was in the commons room, reading, but Starfire wasn't certain of the other Titans. Robin and Beast Boy seemed to be in the changeling's room, since that was the directing the shouting and crashing was coming from, and Cyborg was probably in his garage.

Poking her head out the kitchen, Starfire asked, "Friend Raven, shall we commence dinner?"

The empath briefly looked up. "Sure, if you want." Then her attention was focused on her book.

Starfire took a deep breath, preparing to yell, "The dinner is ready!" at the top of her lungs, when Raven flashed her an alarmed look.

"I think you should actually go up and tell them," suggested Raven, quickly calming down. "How about this: I'll call Cyborg and you get Robin and Beast Boy."

Starfire nodded decisively. "I shall." Without losing a moment, she flew out the kitchen, looking for the two cleaning Titans.

The Titan heard the two long before she saw them. However, determined not to let them skip dinner, she ignored the crashes, yells, and the occasional pleading apology. Finally, she reached the door and knocked.

The alien princess was very lucky she had quick reflexes, or she would've gotten an exploding pizza in the face the second the door opened. As it was, Starfire escaped unscathed by only a few millimetres, and the wall behind her was soon covered in month-old cheese and bits of tofu. Crumbs littered the ground below.

Beast Boy saw the door open and the pizza fly out. Panicked, he ran out of his room, hoping he wouldn't have another angry Titan on his hands. He still remembered what happened the last time something of his exploded on Starfire.

However, the changeling wasn't looking ahead, and so as the laws of physics dictated, crashed into Starfire, sending both of them spiraling to the ground.

"Oof!"

When Robin came out to investigate, he found Beast Boy quickly scrambling to get up and Starfire lying winded on the floor. "Ahem."

"Gah!" cried Beast Boy, eyes wide. He flailed about for a second, and tried to run back into his room. Unfortunately, he was disoriented, and so crashed into the wall. The changeling went down again, leaving a slight Beast Boy shaped dent on the wall.

The Boy Wonder extended a hand to Starfire. "You okay, Star? Beast Boy didn't hurt you when he crashed, did he?" Even through his mask, Starfire sensed concern for her and a lingering annoyance for Beast Boy.

"It is okay," she answered. "I am fine. He did not hurt me; merely surprised me, that is all." As she got up, her green eyes brightened, and she exclaimed, "Raven told me to retrieve you and friend Beast Boy for the evening meal. Are you two finished with the cleaning of his room?"

Robin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Um, not quite…"

Starfire wasn't listening. "It does not matter. You can clean after the evening meal. Tonight is special, as I prepared my Larfjak specially for this day. You must try it!" With that, she took Robin by the hand (he blushed slightly) and pulled Beast Boy, still woozy, to his feet. Then she flew off, pulling Robin along.

The Boy Wonder had to run as fast as his legs could take him to keep up with Starfire.

Beast Boy followed them slowly, and croaked, "Food? Dinner? Does that mean I don't have to clean anymore?" Stars swirled around his head.

* * *

><p>Considering the fact that he had to spend half his day in Beast Boy's smelly and messy room, making sure the changeling didn't try another one of his tricks, Robin didn't feel very good.<p>

He felt even worse, although he couldn't show it, when he was presented with Star's Larfjak. She beamed happily as she handed him a fork, and urged, "Try it, friend Robin! This is a special dish on Tameran, made only with the best ingredients."

He looked at the oval-shaped dish. It was some odd shade of brown, and circular traces of blue and orange were present. Something green was wiggling around inside it, and a few red jellybeans—the only thing he recognized—topped it off. Robin was reminded of the time Beast Boy spilled finger paint in mud, and this looked equally appetizing.

But he couldn't refuse, not with Starfire glancing at him so hopefully with those shimmering green eyes. He needed a diversion.

Luckily, that diversion came in the form of a hungry half-robot. "Hey y'all!" Cyborg called, pounding into the kitchen. "Raven called me to dinner. Anything good to eat?"

Starfire started to say, "I have my Larfjak—" when Robin jumped up from his chair and rushed over to the fridge.

"I'll get your meal, Cyborg! And I'll get your tea, Raven; and I'll get your tofu, Beast Boy, and I'll get my—" He stopped suddenly as he looked in the refrigerator and paled. "Actually… You guys can get it yourself."

Stopping for a brief moment to glare at Robin, Beast Boy pushed himself in front and peered in. "Oh." Then, he giggled and announced, as if he was a master chef, "For dinner tonight you have three delicious choices!"

"BBQ, ribs, and sausages?" Cyborg asked hopefully.

"Tea, tea, and tea?" Raven droned sarcastically.

"Nope," Beast Boy said. "Blue an' Fuzzy, Green an' Fuzzy, or Pink an' Fuzzy!" He laughed. "Or tofu," he added as an afterthought.

Cyborg made a face as he made his way to the table. "I'd rather have Fuzzy than your disgusting excuse for food!"

Robin closed the fridge door, almost taking off Beast Boy's nose in the process. The changeling yelped indignantly. "We'll just order pizza," he said, grabbing the phone. "The usual, everyone?" he asked, looking around at his team-mates clustered around the table.

They gave murmurs of assent.

Robin started to dial, but froze as he heard Starfire's voice. "As we wait for the main course to arrive, we can have Larfjak!"

He told the man to deliver it double-quick.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading. Reviews greatly appreciated.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**To Clean a Tower**

**A/N**: Another chapter. This one doesn't have much connection to "cleaning", but it was still fun to write. If you still remember Cyborg's photograph of Robin and Beast Boy from Chapter Two, in this chapter it's revealed what happened to it.

**Disclaimer**: Do I own the Teen Titans? The answer is the opposite to "Yes." In other words, "No."

* * *

><p>Shadows swept over the room as the pale disk of the full moon slipped behind clouds. It was quiet, except for the barely audible sound of Robin's breathing. In the darkness, Robin lay awake, staring up at his ceiling.<p>

He just couldn't fall asleep.

For the past two hours, he had lain in bed, tossing and turning, reflecting on the day's events.

Dinner, he thought, had been a complete disaster. While they were waiting for their pizza to arrive, he had actually been forced to taste Starfire's creation. First she had pleaded and persisted, using her adorable green eyes (wait, Robin thought, did I just say "adorable"?), and then Beast Boy—probably as revenge for the day's cleaning—had joined her, using every method he knew to cajole Robin into eating what he had secretly dubbed "Tameranean Finger Paint".

When Robin tentatively and slowly brought the fork to his mouth, Cyborg, joining into the fun of "painfully torturing Robin" had shoved it in gleefully, resulting in the food splattering all over Robin's clothes and the fork choking him. He had coughed wildly and gasped loudly for air and pulled out the fork, and the Titans had just stared at him strangely.

At that point, Raven had left, muttering something that sounded like, "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Starfire had mistaken the whole thing to mean Robin didn't mind it, so she gave him the entire dish, and Beast Boy and Cyborg started chanting, "Eat it! Eat it!". Luckily, just then, Raven burst back into room, saying in her usual monotone voice, "Our pizza boy is drowning. You might want to go save him if you want pizza tonight."

At these words, all three of the male Titans—especially Robin—jumped out of their seats and sprinted out the door. The food may have given Robin extra energy, as he stayed in the lead all the way down the stairs and out to the beach.

There, they saw a peculiar sight. An overturned motorboat floated around aimlessly, and some distance away, the pizza boy floundered around in the water, waving his pizza-box-filled hands around and calling for help. Beast Boy, wide-eyed with worry (for the pizza, not the boy) had gasped, "My pizza!" and leaped high into the water, turning into a dolphin in midair. Swimming furiously, he reached the pizza boy, who latched onto his dorsal fin as if it was the end of the world, and was pulled to safety. Luckily, his pizza boxes were, too.

As the two neared the beach, Beast Boy gave a mightly leap and turned into a boy in midair. However, as he was now without a dorsal fin, the poor pizza boy flailed about for a second before falling headfirst into the sand, his soggy feet sticking straight up in the air. Cyborg pulled him out, and they examined the pizzas.

Beast Boy had sighed with relief, saying, "It's not too bad. I mean, it could've been worse," though Robin was skeptical. It had fallen out of the boat, tossed around by the waves, and then engulfed with sand. The three had then gone into the Tower, deep in discussion over dinner.

Moments later, Raven floated out of the Tower, responding to the pizza boy's calls, "Hey, guys! Can you get my boat for me?" The empath had used her powers to drag the motorboat back to the pizza boy, and then teleported away, muttering, "They always forget when pizza is involved." When the pizza boy remembered to croak out a, "Thanks," she had already long disappeared.

Inisde, faced with the choice of either Tameranean Larfjak or soggy pizzas, all three boys opted for the latter. Despite how much it had been abused, it still couldn't be worse than Starfire's creation. At least the pizza wasn't alive.

After dinner, exhausted by the day's events, Robin went to sleep early.

That had been three hours ago, and he was still awake.

Guided only by the faint moonlight streaming in through his window, Robin rolled out of his bed, untangled himself from the blankets, and silently stepped out of his room. In the dead of night, it was absolutely quiet—somber, even.

As he made his way to the kitchen, his footsteps were the only sound in the quiet Tower. _Maybe a glass of water will help me sleep_, he thought.

However, as he neared the kitchen, he noticed a faint light streaming from under the door to his office. Robin's brow furrowed. Had he forgotten to shut down the computer the last time he was in there? Or had someone—most likely Beast Boy or maybe Cyborg—used it for their own nefarious purposes?

Slowly, Robin stepped towards the door and gently opened it. He scanned the room: The Slade clippings were still in their place, undisturbed; the desk was just as he left it. Only the computer screen was on, and—

The Boy Wonder's eyes bugged out. What in the world was _that _picture doing there?

With long strides, Robin reached his computers, and hunched over it, examining the image with detail-oriented and trained eyes.

It was from when the Titans had first started to clean, and Beast Boy had hid, as a mouse, on top of Robin in his hair. The Boy Wonder still remembered it—he had been looking for Beast Boy after letting Cyborg out of the closet, and once Cyborg saw him in his situation, he had taken a quick picture. Now, it seemed, he had posted it all over the internet.

Robin growled.

The picture was rather clear and sharp, considering that Cyborg had been rolling on the floor laughing at the time. He was turned towards the camera, flustered eyes wide behind the mask and mouth in a little 'o' shape. One hand was poised near the top of his head—he had been about to grab Beast Boy—while the other hung near his side, a loose cape dangling from it.

Mouse-Beast-Boy perched on top of his spiky hair, and Robin swore he was _grinning_ cheekily at the camera.

He wanted to strangle the changeling. He also wanted to strangle Cyborg for taking the picture.

Maybe he'd strangle both of them together.

Cyborg had also managed to include Raven and Starfire in the picture as well, although they were slightly out of focus in the background. Raven held up a book, apparently reading it, but Robin could see that over the top of her novel, she was still watching them. From the kitchen, Starfire waved, amusement lighting up her already-bright features and green eyes sparkling with mirth.

Robin smiled grudgingly. At least _that _part of the picture wasn't bad.

He was about to close the window and leave when a line of text at the bottom of the page caught his eye. It read: Replies to this thread [Another Robin and Beast Boy Picture!]: [25]. Click here to view.

With an almost defeated-sounding sigh, Robin clicked it.

Instantly, the page was covered with comments, mostly from other Titans. Robin read a few.

"Hey, Robin, nice 'hairdo'." ~ Speedy.

"I heard you were cleaning the Tower. What does Beast Boy being a mouse have to do with that?" ~ Bumblebee.

"Beast Boy on top of Robin? What could this mean?" ~ Jump City News reporter.

"Cute picture, Stone." ~ Jinx.

"Hey y'all! What do ya think about my latest picture?" ~ Cyborg.

Robin scrolled down to find even more. He glanced at them, but one in particular caught his eyes.

"Beast Boy looks almost… cute. Of course, he'd better never find out who I am." ~ Anonymous.

Robin wondered who that was.

Pulling out the keyboard, he typed in his own comment and then pressed 'Enter'.

"Cyborg, delete this _now_!" ~ Robin.

He scrolled to the top of the screen, but again, something caught his eyes. It was that line of text: Replies to this thread [Another Robin and Beast Boy Picture!]: [27]

Robin blinked. He had just posted one message, but it said two. Had someone posted a message at the same time? He scrolled back down.

Under his furious comment, there was another one.

"Aww, Robin, why?" ~ Cyborg.

That was the last straw. Robin closed the computer, ran out the room, flew up the steps, and barged into Cyborg's room in just moments.

The cybernectic teen turned around to find his leader glaring at him, arms crossed. He grinned sheepishly. "Um… Hi."

"Cyborg! You should be asleep at this time—"

"So should you."

"—and take that photo off immediately!"

"But people like it!" Cyborg protested, hands out. "Besides, with all the websites and emails I sent it to—"

"_What?"_ cried an enraged Robin, barely restraining himself from shaking a fist.

"—it'll take forever to remove them all! Besides," he added, shrugging in the darkness of the room, "don't say you've never done this yourself."

Cyborg had a point there.

"But this is _ridiculous_!" Robin protested.

Again, Cyborg shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"Okay," Robin muttered, his voice weaker, "just tell me how many people have already seen this."

Turning back the screen, Cyborg scrolled down. "Hits", it read at the bottom, "157."

"And that's just one website," the half-robot added.

Robin felt like facepalming.

Closing the screen, Cyborg stood up and yawned. "I think I'll go to sleep now. How about you, Rob?"

The Boy Wonder nodded weakly. Without a word, he turned around and left the room.

He made his way to his room, feeling as if something was missing. Only when he reached the door did he realize his original intent was to go to the kitchen for a glass of water. With all the excitement over Cyborg's photo, he'd completely forgotten.

Robin turned around and hurried back down the stairs, returning to the kitchen. He reached up to take a glass. Then, he wandered over to the counter and poured the glass to the brim with water. Finally, he sat down at the table, head in his arms, staring at the cup of water listlessly. Then he blinked in surprise. There was a girl on the other side, shrouded in the darkness of the commons room.

"Raven?" Robin asked tentitavely, sipping his water. "You're still up, too?"

"Couldn't sleep," she replied briefly. "And I blame it on you and Cyborg. I could practically hear you two all the way down here. I'm surprised Beast Boy and Starfire didn't wake up, but I suppose they could sleep through anything."

Robin chuckled nervously at that. "So… uh… You reading?"

He heard the faint sound of a page flipping. "Yes." The reply was short and clipped.

"You can see in that darkness?"

"Yes." She offered no explanation.

A silence hung in the air as Robin thought of something else to say.

"Now that you've had your water, are you going back to sleep?"

Robin blinked. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "Um… Are you trying to get rid of me?"

Raven turned to look at him and sighed. "If you get a good night's sleep, you won't be so grumpy in the morning. You won't yell at Beast Boy that much, and you won't send intense spikes of emotion my way, which disrupts meditiation, which doesn't let _me_ get a good night's sleep, which means I'm still awake at this time, when I should be asleep." She finished her long explanation by glancing at him coolly. "So, in a way, I suppose I am trying to get rid of you. Are you going to go to bed or not?"

The Boy Wonder took a moment to process the information. "Wait—so, you're calling me grumpy? And you're defending Beast Boy? And you want to go to sleep—are you even tired?"

Raven looked at Robin as if he was a small child. "For your first question, have you seen yourself in the morning when you don't get enough sleep? For the second question, it's not a matter of whether or not I defend Beast Boy, it's whether or not I get my meditation done. For your third question, it doesn't matter if I am or if I am not. I can't sleep, either way."

"But weren't you meditating this afternoon?" Robin asked. "On the roof?"

She glared at him. "I was _trying_ to meditate, but instead ended up listening to you two argue and yell and break Beast Boy's possessions."

Robin didn't have a response to that. It wasn't as if he could deny it.

Raven closed her book and stood up, preparing to leave. "Do you have plans for tomorrow?"

"Since the rooms are pretty much finished, I thought we could start on the commons room and the living room. Also, someone will need to clean and restock the fridge."

Raven smirked as she paused by the entrance of the commons room. "Who are you planning to have undertake that task?"

"I… don't know yet. I guess I'll decide tomorrow," he said, rather awkwardly.

"I'll be leaving now," droned Raven as the commons room door hissed shut behind her, and Robin was left alone.

Putting the empty glass into the sink, Robin followed her lead and left. He navigated through the dark hallways until he reached his room, and the door slid open in front of him. Robin climbed into the bed, pulled the covers around him, and drifted off to sleep.

And this was only the first day of cleaning.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading. Reviews greatly appreciated.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**To Clean a Tower**

**A/N**: School has started, and with that comes loads of homework, tests, exams, and the occasional evil teacher. I'll try to update as often as I can, but it won't be like in the summer. I won't abandon my stories, though. This chapter isn't as humorous as the others; it's more angsty. Enjoy~

**Disclaimer**: I'd gladly trade schoolwork for the Teen Titans, but unfortunately I cannot.

* * *

><p>Beast Boy wondered if he should get up.<p>

It was seven in the morning, and unusually for the green teen who usually considered morning to be the time after ten and before twelve, he had been up for an hour. He had spent that hour lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, which was uncomfortably bare. As hard as he tried, he couldn't fall back asleep.

But he didn't want to get up, either. Getting up meant facing Robin and the rest of the Titans and another day of cleaning. Yesterday had been horrible, and he was sure today would be no better. At least his room was finished. That had been the hardest part for him.

He rolled onto his side and stared glumly at the empty floor. Light poured in through the window, illuminating the carpet. Yet there was nothing visible—simply an empty-looking room. Beast Boy couldn't even glance into his closet to reassure himself he still had some possessions, as Robin told him to close it. And he couldn't even smell his stuff, with all the conditioner Robin had pumped into his room.

The worst part was, this wasn't a simple image, a hologram. This was the real appearance of his—he couldn't even bring himself to call it a room anymore. It was just a place to sleep now. Nothing more.

The room was as familiar to Beast Boy as an alien planet. He wished he could reverse time before Robin—he couldn't even think of it—when his room was still _his room_ and had all his possessions that reminded him he was a human with a family and a safe and secure place to live. Who cared if it was dirty or smelly or looked bad? It was _his room_.

And now it wasn't.

Sure, it was still a room, technically, and it belonged to him because it was where he slept at night and had his name carved into the door, but it wasn't _his room_.

He wished it was. He really, really did.

"_Get up, Beast Boy! It's the second day of cleaning and we're starting early!" _Robin's earsplitting bellow pierced the early morning silence, shattering it like a knife through glass.

Pulling the covers back over his head, Beast Boy decided that was a sign from the heavens that he should not get up for another four or five or twenty-four hours. At least, in his dreams he could pretend he still had a room.

* * *

><p>"Hey, where's B?" Cyborg asked, looking over the top of his super-tall-mega-meat-breakfast-sandwich to the other Titans sitting around the table.<p>

Robin glanced at the cybernetic Titan in muted disbelief. "We've been at the breakfast table for over half an hour, and you _just_ noticed that someone's missing?"

Cyborg shrugged sheepishly, grinning. "I went to get a drink of water, and when I returned, my bacon was still untouched. Normally if BB was here, it'd be... um, gone."

The Boy Wonder sighed, slumping forward to lean his head against his palms. "He's still sleeping. He was when I called." Picking up his fork, he stabbed it into his scrambled eggs and started eating.

"Really?" Raven raised an eyebrow. "I saw him wandering the hallways at five AM this morning. He said he couldn't sleep."

"It appears we all we not asleep last night," Starfire concluded, setting down her mustard. "From the shouting originating from Cyborg's room, I noticed that Robin and Cyborg were awake. Raven now has told us Beast Boy was awake as well, and I was awake last night too, and I saw Raven in the commons room yesterday night."

"Ah." Robin nodded. "So who wants to go drag Beast Boy down here? It's getting rather late, and we do need to start cleaning soon."

The three other Titans buried their heads in their breakfast, hoping to be overlooked.

"C'mon, guys. He cleaned his room. It's not like it's a disaster zone anymore," he pleaded, looking around. None met his masked eyes. None gave responses. It suddenly became silent enough to hear his own breathing.

"Well, one of you has to do it. We can't wait for him to come here on his own; that'd take hours." Robin crossed his arms and looked at the other three. "We can't start until we're all assembled."

"_Then let's not start."_ Nobody said it out loud, but Robin could almost _feel_ the words. He shook his head. He was imagining things now.

"Why don't _you_ go do it?" Raven asked, finally looking up.

"I didn't get much sleep yesterday night," Robin answered lamely.

"None of us did," Raven corrected him. "And I couldn't sleep the _whole_ night; you were only up half the night."

The Boy Wonder didn't respond.

"Fine," she sighed, getting up. "I'll do it. And it's _not_ because of the cleaning."

Robin breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Raven. And would you tell him that—"

But she was already gone.

In moments, Raven materialized in front of Beast Boy's door and knocked twice. "Beast Boy? Robin wants you to come down now."

There was no response.

"I'm going to count to ten, Beast Boy, and if you don't answer I'm going through the door you so'd better fix your appearance," she told him calmly, and started to count.

There was nothing. It was dead quiet.

She reached one and then zero. Chanting her mantra, Raven phased through the door. Materializing on the other side, she blinked at what she saw. The room was completely empty. A window, a bed, and a door—was that it? She turned to look at the bed, and fount that it, too, was empty. The covers were half-hanging off the bed frame, trailing on the ground, and the pillow looked as if it had doubled as a scratching post during the night.

The entire room felt lifeless. It wasn't that she _missed_ the mess in his room, but it was like a part of Beast Boy, the way his fang or pointy ears or green skin were.

Had Robin made Beast Boy throw out all his stuff? Garbage, he should have got rid of, but even Raven knew he had at least _some_ things worth keeping.

But she wasn't going to dwell on that. She had to locate Beast Boy first. Turning around, she prepared to leave and look for him elsewhere—

"What are you doing in my room?" Beast Boy demanded, rushing in through the open door. He skid to a sudden stop upon seeing Raven.

"Where were you?" Raven asked, a bit startled. She had not detected the green Titan entering, and unfamiliar emotions surrounded the aura of the changeling. Normally bright happiness blinded her empathetic senses; now, what she sensed made both the red-cloaked and gray-cloaked part of her mind stir. This was an unusual combination of emotions.

"In the bathroom. I don't have to _ask_, do I?" He threw the words at her, marching in and roughly throwing his covers back on the bed. Then he sat down and stared at her. His green eyes were duller, not sparkling with life and joy as they should.

Raven also noticed he sounded aggravated. The normally cheerful Titan wasn't like this; was there anything wrong with him? It wasn't the Beast again, was it?

"What?" he asked harshly, immediately getting up and taking a step towards her, giving her an uncomfortable feeling of being pressed in. She often had her personal space invaded by the green Titan, but that was when he was in a happy mood, trying to get her to join in with his activities. This was different. It felt wrong.

The empath blinked, trying to ward off all the hostile feelings coming off of Beast Boy. "Excuse me?"

"Why were you staring—" he jabbed a finger in her direction "—at me like that? Like you're trying to pierce through my soul—" Each word was forceful, punctuated.

"I wasn't—" Another step closer, and Raven started to back away.

"Leave, Raven."

This startled her. Something was definitely wrong with Beast Boy. "Robin wants you to—"

"I don't care; I'm not cleaning today. Now go."

Shocked, the empath left mutely, hearing the _hiss_ of the door behind her. Now what was she supposed to do?

* * *

><p>"Where's B <em>now<em>?" Cyborg asked, delicately placing a plate on the top of the towering stack of dirty dishes in the sink. He lunged forward as it wobbled precariously, and breathed a sigh of relief as he caught it just in time to prevent it from tumbling down to the ground. "He still hasn't come down."

"Raven, too, has not returned," Starfire added, still at the table, watching the two other Titans. "She left half an hour ago to do the fetching of Beast Boy." Her voice contained a hint of concern.

"I wouldn't worry about those two," Robin laughed, setting down his newspaper. "She's just probably trying to drag him out of dreamland."

"What if they encountered a problem?" Starfire asked.

"The biggest problem Raven would have is trying to drag a green elephant down the halls, and that'd be nothing for her, the telekinetic. Anyway," he added, seeing their expressions, "if they really had a problem, she'd call us."

"Still," said Cyborg, fitting into his 'big brother of the group' role, "I think I'll go check up on them. Something doesn't feel right to me."

"You don't have to—" Robin started to say, but Cyborg cut him off.

"Something's wrong here. Even I can feel it."

Robin watched the doors open and then close as Cyborg headed for Beast Boy's room.

Unlike Raven, Cyborg couldn't simply teleport to the changeling's room, so he had to go the long way: down the hall, a turn, another hall, another turn, stairs, hall, turn, turn—there. Beast Boy's room.

Gingerly, the half-robot knocked twice, listening for any sound, but it was dead quiet. Cyborg bit his lip in frustration. Should he go in? What if they were… busy?

_But they could also be in trouble_, his mind reminded him.

He punched in the code to open the door, and it slid open, revealing…nothing.

Like Raven, Cyborg stepped in and surveyed the emptiness. He traced his finger along the bare walls, the stain-free windows, touched the clean carpeting, and came away without one speck of dust, grime, or dirt on his finger. Considering what the room used to be like, this felt surreal. But it also felt artificial and fake, because Beast Boy's room never would be so empty. What had happened to all the stuff?

Cyborg blinked as he realized something else was missing too. Specifically, one green shapeshifter and one accompanying empath. "BB?" he called into the silence, quieter than he'd intended. "Rae?"

It was so quiet his words seemed to bounce back to him, like an echo. "_BB? Rae?"_ It was ghostly.

"They're not here, then," Cyborg decided aloud. Hearing his own voice reassured him that _someone_, at least, was alive here.

He wandered back out, allowing the door to close behind him.

Now he wondered what he should do. He could return to the kitchen and get Robin and Starfire involved, but he doubted Robin would take him seriously, considering how he had acted. Perhaps he should just wander around and hope to locate them. Was he desperate enough to use his communicator to call them?

No, it was better he didn't.

The metallic Titan walked to the next door, Raven's room. He knocked, calling, "Raven? BB? You two in there?" There was no answer here, either, and Cyborg wasn't too keen on going in and exploring. Raven had enough problems without an intruder to Nevermore complicating everything further. Plus, any number of mishaps could befall him in there. It was best he stayed out. But the thought of Nevermore lingered in his mind.

_Nevermore_…could the two be in Raven's mind? It was certainly a possibility, and it'd explain the silence of both the Titans' rooms. But what if they weren't, and he went in there anyway? Raven would probably send him out the window or something once she dragged him out. And that was only if the dopplegangers inside didn't get him first.

Where else did they like to be? Cyborg decided to try the roof. He stomped up the stairs, straining his senses for any sign of the missing Titans. The only sound he heard, though, was his own footsteps and breathing. It was too quiet.

The door creaked as the half-robot pushed it open, and he looked around in dismay. A breeze floated from one end of the roof to the other. Aside from that, it was completely empty. He looked around—nothing. He even glanced in the direction of the city, hoping at least to see two flying silhouettes travelling by air. But still—nothing.

With a sigh, Cyborg went down. He was getting worried now about those two—what if something serious happened? Pulling out his communicator, he called, "Beast Boy? Raven? Where are ya guys?"

He received no reply. His heart pounded, louder now.

Frantically, he checked for life signals inside the Tower. The readout only showed three blinking dots—a red one for Robin, an orange one for Starfire, and a blue one for him. The Boy Wonder and his companion were still in the kitchen, but where were the purple and green dots?

Returning to the main hallway, Cyborg knew there were only three possibilities. Nevermore was a strong one, but why would Raven pull Beast Boy into Nevermore at this time? Or they could be out in Jump City—or even in another dimension, considering Raven's powers.

The final possibility Cyborg didn't allow himself to think about. It was highly unlikely, but the fact that he couldn't get a life reading from the two could mean that… they weren't alive.

* * *

><p>Plot twist and a cliffhanger… and what's wrong with Beast Boy? Any guesses where the two are?<p>

Thanks for reading and reviews greatly appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

**To Clean a Tower**

**A/N**:

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Teen Titans, as well as a lot of other things, such as my free time. I apologize for this late update.

* * *

><p>"Cyborg has not returned yet, either," Starfire murmured, running her hand along the length of Silkie's back. Her pet silkworm gurgled, wiggling around happily. She and Robin absently lounged on the couch, waiting for the others to return. "Shall I go search for him?"<p>

"He's fine," Robin replied distantly, absorbed in his newspaper. He flipped a page and raised an eyebrow.

"What is wrong, Robin?" Starfire asked, noticing his behaviour. She tried to peer at the page he was reading.

"Ah… Nothing," he replied, ducking his head a little so Starfire couldn't see his mask. "Just a rather odd article."

Thinking nothing was amiss, Starfire stared out the window at the city across the water. Like Cyborg, she felt that something was definitely wrong. It ran in the air and made her alert senses tingle.

Gently, she reluctantly placed Silkie on the ground and stood up. Robin looked at her in surprise. "You're leaving, too?" His tone held a hint of disbelief.

"I must know where they are," she replied, not meeting his eyes. "You may come with me if you wish," she added in a hopeful tone.

"I'm kind of busy now," he replied, returning to his paper.

"Oh." She didn't try to hide the disappointment in her tone, and stared at the back of his head for a few moments. Then she silently walked out of the room; she could not conjure up the joyous emotions needed for floating. The door closed quietly behind her.

Only now did Robin realize he was all alone. First he had sent Raven off; then Cyborg had left; now Starfire.

He wondered if he should be worried.

"Nah, it's all good," he told himself. The words dissolved in the still air.

If only he knew what was coming up.

* * *

><p>An hour later, he started to feel the silence. Normally it would be broken by Beast Boy or Cyborg, playing their games, or Raven, making her trademark sarcastic remarks, or Starfire, popping in to add her comment and cheer on the players.<p>

But it was surprisingly silent now. His own breathing even sounded loud.

Beast Boy and Raven should have been back two hours ago. The empath was only supposed to go to the changeling's room and retrieve him for breakfast and then cleaning. Cyborg should have been back an hour and a half ago. He was only going to look for them. And Starfire had left an hour ago—

Suddenly the newspaper didn't look so appealing anymore.

Robin stood up. He wondered where he should go. He could check their rooms, as that was where Beast Boy was supposed to be; the roof, where they often liked to go; his communicator—life signs. He realized as they could tell him the location of his teammates. He hurriedly flipped it on.

Imagine his surprise when the communicator showed he was the only Titan in the entire Tower. The others had all disappeared.

_Now what?_ he thought irritably.

He put his newspaper down. As if gaining a life of its own, it rustled, and he looked at it in surprise. The page, apparently blacker than it had been moments before, had flipped, showing an article with two words at the top:

BOY BLUNDER.

Robin whipped his head around to see if anyone was looking, even though he had just confirmed he was the only Titan in the Tower. Then he lunged forward and snatched up the newspaper, holding it tightly to his chest.

He'd have to examine this in the office.

He quickly skittered to his little room, newspaper clutched in hand tightly, and locked the door with an audible click. Turning on the only light in his office, he set down the paper on his desk. Without even bothering to sit down, he began to read.

_Boy Blunder: Will He Ever Come?_

_Jump City News_

_It started out a simple enough morning. We were making our daily rounds through Jump, and happened to pass the landfill. There, a very peculiar sight greeted us. Four of the Teen Titans—Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, and the ever-awesome Beast Boy, the respected protectors of our city—were simply standing around the landfill. Not missing the chance to gather more information, we hopped out of the car and asked them what was going on._

_The changeling was the first to respond. "We're waiting for Robin," Beast Boy answered. "He threw out all my stuff and he's making me clean, so here's the deal, Robin, 'cause you're probably reading this article right now: I won't clean until you give me back all my stuff. Some of them I got from the Doom Patrol, y'know, so they're like my last memories in a way._

"_And I don't care if you give me a thousand bucks to buy them new; I want mine. Do you know, Robin, how I felt this morning? And then when Raven came—and we were out on the rocks when Cyborg came—and we were already in Jump by the time Star joined us—so you'd better get down here quick!"_

There was more text below, but Robin didn't have time to read it. He had to—_wait a minute,_ he thought. It didn't add up. Starfire had left only an hour ago, and even the reporters of Jump weren't that quick. And the report said _this morning_—something was amiss.

He held up the newspaper to examine it more closely, but it suddenly started to glow raven-black.

"Whoa!" he cried, as the strangest thing happened.

It came to life.

As if his hand was glued tightly to the paper, he couldn't remove it from his grip. It was stuck. The newspaper rose up into the air, slowly at first, and then gaining speed like a fledging spreading out its wings for the first time. A corner of the paper manipulated the lock, and the door swung open. Robin was dragged along despite his protests and thrashing movements. Even the Boy Wonder couldn't escape from the possessed paper.

Speeding into the commons room, it headed straight for the window. Robin yelped as he felt himself crashing through the class, and then watching the glass shards dive towards the ocean stories below.

He struggled as hard as he could, but it was a furtile effort. He helplessly dangled from the paper. He wondered how something as flimsy as paper could be so strong, and how it hadn't even ripped apart. He hung on for dear life, and realized the paper had a destination: It was speeding straight for the landfill.

The people below saw a very peculiar sight—Robin hanging by one hand by a flying newspaper. They never would understand what happened in that strange T-shaped Tower on the island in the middle of the ocean.

The Titans were very strange indeed.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, Raven forgot about making the newspaper land properly, so when it flew in her direction, the magic evaporated and Robin had nowhere to go but straight down, which happened to be the middle of the landfill.<p>

The empath reached out and expertly caught the now-lifeless newspaper with one hand. Nobody bothered to go catch Robin, and he ended up half-submerged in bags of leaky garbage. It was rather gross. The sound effects did not help, either.

They waited a moment, the tension building.

Then Robin exploded out of the heap of garbage, loudly gasping for air and trying not to ingest anything he might regret. With great difficulty, he climbed out of the Robin-shaped hole and stumbled over to them. "Did," he gasped, pointing at Raven and trying unsuccessfully to balance on the bags without making them explode, "you curse the newspaper or something?"

The empath shrugged as if her leader hadn't just taken a dive in the garbage. "Favour for Beast Boy. He also wrote the text on the paper."

Robin blinked rapidly, and a banana peel—it always seemed to be banana peels—slid off his head. "You mean, they didn't actually see you guys?"

"No," she answered.

Robin looked around at his teammates. They were simply standing around, as if waiting for something. None of them were meeting his gaze, though; they were all staring elsewhere.

"So…" he croaked weakly, "we just get Beast Boy's stuff and leave?"

"Yeah." Beast Boy finally turned towards his leader. His normally sparkling eyes were cold and hard. Shrugging nonchalantly, he said, "I'm glad you agree. This could've been much harder, but I'm glad it's not going to be." His voice, too, was different. Instead of upbeat and cheerful, it was colder, more distant. It was the voice he used when he was upset. Was he really that worked up about his garbage—er, his possessions?

Robin wanted to refuse—he really did—but knew that would only cause unnecessary trouble. "Fine," he growled. Then he noticed the large number of garbage bags all around him; the other Titans were standing at the edge. And the bags all looked exactly alike. _And_ they stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Uh… Which ones are yours?" he asked timidly, his courage quickly fading. He hoped they didn't have to search through them. Perhaps Beast Boy already had them, and was just waiting for Robin to agree so they could leave and he could never be in the middle of the landfill again because it really wasn't a nice place to be—

Beast Boy gestured around. "One or two of these." He took a step back, and the other Titans followed him, as if they were leaving Robin all alone to search for this needle in the haystack.

"Why do I have to?" he cried, horrified. His uniform would be ruined!—and his hair—his _hair_! His perfectly jelled, time-consuming _hair!_

"You're already covered with garbage," Beast Boy suggested, finding a bare patch of ground and plopping down on it. "A bit more won't hurt."

"And do you know the condition Beast Boy was in when I found him? It was terrible, Robin. I wouldn't want that for any friend," Raven told him icily. She walked towards Beast Boy and sat down next to him. "This is the least you can do to repay him."

"Some of these are memories from his past!" Cyborg added, joining the two. "You had no right to take them away."

"These possessions are his greatest treasures," Starfire finished, sitting down with her friends. "Do it, Robin."

The Boy Wonder felt smaller. Okay, maybe he kind of deserved it, but having to go through an entire landfill just to find one little bag? _And_ while his entire team watched him with disapproving frowns on their faces? Even Starfire wasn't on his side.

Raven heard his thoughts through their telepathic connection. They were pure emotion; she couldn't have blocked them out even if she wanted to. "Yes." She spoke for all of them.

With a long, resigned sigh, Robin turned to the nearest bag, held his breath, and peered inside. It was not pretty.

TTTT

"To make matters worse," Robin gasped at Kid Flash on his communicator, "The Jump City News actually passed by!"

After an extremely gruelling day, he had taken a _long_ shower and was currently in his room, trying not to think much about the day's stressful events. He had planned a cleanup today, and instead had spent it at the _landfill_ of all places!

"Whoa," Kid Flash replied, leaning into his communicator. "That's gotta be tough. But you deserved it, y'know."

"Yes, I suppose so," Robin replied weakly; even Kid Flash was against him. "But do you know how _long_ it took?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "You've told me about twenty-seven times and counting." He looked around him, and then returned back to the screen in moments.

"So how's the cleaning going along?" he asked curiously.

"Badly," Robin muttered. He leaned back onto his pillow. "Yesterday we did the rooms, except I made the mistake of throwing out Beast Boy's stuff, so today we did absolutely no cleaning at all and now the others are kind of mad at me…" He sighed. "Well, tomorrow's a new day," he said hopefully.

Kid Flash laughed, and then abruptly stopped. "Oh, gotta go now. Trouble's out there. See ya, Robin!" With a click, he zoomed off.

Robin put his communicator away and stared at the ceiling for a moment. Then he decided to head down to the commons room. Maybe he could apologize and the others wouldn't be so cold towards him. It would relieve the tension, at least.

He wandered down the hallway, thinking. But his thoughts were soon interrupted as he heard the TV blaring in the commons room. It was the news channel, and as he listened, his heart dropped.

"Today, we feature a video of Robin, ex-apprentice of the Batman, the Boy Wonder, and leader of the Teen Titans, digging in the garbage!"

Robin swore he could hear the entire city laughing at him. The voices were loud, mocking him.

"We wanted to get the details, so we decided to ask the other four Titans sitting around, watching."

"Our interviews!" Robin heard Beast Boy crow, and imaged his eager eyes glued to the screen. He sounded decidedly happier now than he had when Robin had first started his search.

"Oh, yay." That was Raven speaking in her usual monotone voice.

Robin decided it was better he didn't enter the room, and turned around to go back to his room. He didn't need to know what the others had to say. Nothing good, obviously.

On his way back, he remembered something: The Jump City Penitentiary had a single TV with only three channels: Weather, Sports, and… News.

_Oh, no_, Robin thought. He was going to be displayed for all the villains to see.

And then he realized that since Jump City was a large city, the news station could also be watched in Steel City, or even… Gotham City, where his former mentor, Batman, lived. And more people from his past were there, too—Alfred, Babs, and villains like the Joker or Penguin. He was in real trouble now.

He was going to become the laughingstock of the country. And it was all because he wanted a cleaner Tower.

This cleaning business was turning out harder than he had expected.

* * *

><p>I haven't written Teen Titans for so long, so I hope none of the characters are OOC or anything... Please tell me if they are!<p>

Thanks for reading and reviews appreciated.


End file.
